Swing-hanger link for railroad trucks



R. F. HALL SWING HANGER LINK FOR RAILROAD TRUCKS Oct-x21. 2924. i 5i2463 Filed Oct 6. 1-923 2 shwm-snem 1 1L. t -Fl6.2.-=

LATERAL RE$I87WIY65 8045715? wa uc mmwr -F'l 6 3 WITNESSES R. F. HALLSWING HANGER LINK FOR R K ILROAD" TRUCKS Filed Oct. 6, 1923 2Shoots-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 21, 1924.

ROBERT E. HALL, OF SCHENEG'I'ADY, NEW YORK.

' SWING-HANGER LINK FOR RAILRQAD TRUCKS.

Application filed October 6, 1923. Serial No. 666,991.

To all, whemit may concern:

Be 'itfknown that I, Bonner F. H L, a citizendof; the United States, anda resident of Schenectady, inv the county of Schenecr tadyand State ofNew'York', have invented a certain new. and .useful Improvement inSwing-Hanger Links. for Railroad Trucks, of which improvement thefollowing is a specification.

1. My invention relates, generally, to trucks for railroad rol ingstools o th las 0 typein which lateral resjistancezdevices areprovided,which is set forth in Letters Pat, ent of the United States No.1,060,222, ranted 'and issued to 'W. "W QdaB under date of April 29,- 1.13, nd i pp i cations for Letters Patent of the i Un e StatesQfiled by.me November 29., 1922, Serial No; 603,916, and August 3. .9 3, SerialNo. 660,371

My: present invention par icn y elates,

to swing hanger "links f r trucksv o h yp above "stated,of theclassknown as three point. suspension, and its object is to pro: vide i swinghanger link, he-ope i n of which'a rapid rateef increase of resis= ncetotheilateral swing-or di pl ment at the bolstergwill eattai etl nringt e"initial stageof: the movem nt-th r of, and, a a predetermined point;the ra e of incr e ofresistanee will be decreased, so that the finalresistance, when itllebolster is displaced laterallyto' the maximum ,etent, shall. b limited 'to adegreesufficient to maintain the stability.of the truck.

The improvement claimed is hereinafter fully set forth.

7 In the accompanying drawingsziliigure l is an :end'view, in elevation,of a two wheeled locomotive engine truck, illustratingxan applicwtiono-fmy invention; Fig. 2, a. similar View, iillustrating'the application ofthree point suspension swing hanger links of prior construction; Fig. 3,a dias gram, illustrating the variation of lateral resistance in theconstructions of Figs. land 2; :Fig... i,".an end view, in elevation,ofa swing hanger slink, embodying my inventionyiFigffi, aside viewof thesame, .in middle position; Fig-6, a similar View, showing the' lowerhanger member displaced to the left, to the limit ofwi-ts-1novementin,dependentl-y of the upper member; and, Fig. 7 ,a similar view,showingthe hanger further displaced to the left, by coincident movement of bothmembers from the position shown in Fig. 6.

My invention is herein exemplified as applied in a two wheeledlocomotive truck of the swing or lateral motion type, in which, as inpresent practice, a frame, 1, is suspended, through the intermediationof springs, 11 on the journal boxes, 4, of an axle, 5, on which thetruck wheels, 5, are secured. A swing frame or bolster support, 6,extends from one to the other of the side members of the truck frame, towhich it is fixed at its ends, as by being made integral with the truckframe. The weight carried by the truck is primarily applied theretothrough a floating or swing bolster, 7, which is provided with a centreplate, 7 perforated for the passage of a centre pin. The bolster issupported, with the capacity of lateral movement, relatively to theframe, by swing hanger links, hereinafter described.

In the practice ofmy invention, referring descriptively to the specificembodiment thereof which is herein exemplified, the hole stel, 7,issupperted, at each of itsrends, on the'bolster su port and truckframe,- by a swing hanger ink, comprising an upper member, 8, providedwith recessed bearings,

which, in the normal or middle position of the link, fit over and reston two journal pins, 8, 8 fixed: in the bolster support, 6, and a lowermember, 9, provided with similar bearings, which, in normal position ofthe link, fit over and rest on two journal pins, 9*, 9 fixed in theuppermember. Each end of the bolster is articulated to thread.- jacent swinghanger link, by a coupling pin, 9, fixed in the lower member of thelink.

111 the operation of a truck, in which swing hanger links of theconstruction above described are applied, assuming the bolster to bedeflected towards the left, the lower members, 9, of the links, swingabout the axes of the pins, 9", and the lower members rise out ofcontact with the pins, 9. Under these conditions, the resultant of thevertical and horizontal forces is, in the position shown in Fig. 5,intermediate the bearing pins, 8 and 8 and the upper members,Sythe-refore rest on both these pins as bearings. If the bolster isfurther displaced towards the left, the lower members, 9, continue theirswinging movements about the axes of the pins, 9 and the resultant ofthe vertical. and horizontal forces changes its angle, and moves towardsthe right, until the pins, 8, 9 and 9 lie in the same straight line,with which the resultant coincides. In the initial stage of movementfrom the normal or middle position to that last described, thehorizontal force resisting the lateral displacement of the bolster, ismeasured by the vertical load multiplied by the tangent oi the angle, a,Fig. 5, which angle increases until it becomes the angle, 7), Fig. 6.Further movement of the bolster towards the lefi, beyond the position ofthe swing hanger shown in Fig. 6, causes the upper member, 8, to risefrom the pin, 8", and the members, 8 and 9, swing, coin cidently, aboutthe axis of the pin, 8". The line of the resultant still passes throughthe axes of the pins, 8 9 and 9, and this condition obtains throughoutthe remainder ot the lateral displacement. The lateral resistance,during this final stage, is measured by the vertical load multlplied bythe tangent of the angle shown as Z), which increases with thedisplacement, as to c, in Fig. 7

It will be understood that when the bolster is displaced towards theright, the operation above described takes place, in the same order, butin reverse direction. The characteristic curves of the resistances areshown in Fig. 3, and the corresponding positions are indicated thereon.The line, l shows the characteristic resistance curve of the three pointhanger, and the line, 5*, 6*, and 7 the curve for the swing hanger of myinvention. The points, 5*, 6 and 7*, on the latter line, correspond withthe positions of the swing hanger shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7,respectively.

In the operation of the ordinary type of three point swing hanger, 12,shown in Fig. 2, it is journalled on one or the other of two pins, 12*,12", dependent upon the direction of the lateral movement of thebolster, and the lateral resistance is measured by the vertical loadmultiplied by the tangent of the angle, (Z. The characteristic curve ofthis swing hanger is shown in Fig. Fig. 2 illustrates a commonly usedtype of two wheeled locomotive truck having three point hangers, withthe bolster, 7, displaced to its limit of movement to the left. Theresultant of the vertical load and horizontal forces is indicated aspassing through the contact point of the. truck centre pin with its seatin the top of the bolster. This line is parallel with the median line,12*, of the hanger in its displaced position, and intersects ahorizontal line across the tops of the rails at a point well within theouter rail. If the conditions were such as to cause the resultant lineto pass outside the middle of the outer rail, the truck would be liableto overturn, particularly if a spherical bearing is provided for thecentre pin.

At the period of the introduction of the three point hanger, locomotiveswere relatively small, as compared with later designs, and, for a givenradius of curve, less lateral deflection of the truck bolster wasrequired than at the present time. As indicated in Fig. 8, theresistance of a. three point hanger increases rapidly with the lateraldeflection, as is desirable in the initial portion of the deflection,for the reason that it permits of the application of a relatively lowinitial resistance, which increases rapidly, and checks any considerableU'IOVOIl'lGlIb of the truck bolster on tangent track, and by reason ofthis action, there is less liability to cause the wear on the hubs andflanges of truck wheels, which. results from a high initial resistance.On the other hand, it is the fact that a low initial resistance, with alow rate of increase, would render the locomotive unsteady on tangenttrack. This operative feature of the three point hanger, limits thetotal amount of lateral displacement for which it is suited, as theresistance soon increases to such a degree as to render the truckunstable, when. its bolster is displaced to the maximum lateral limit.The suggested remedy is to in crease the length of the swing hanger,rela tively to the distance between the upper bearing points, therebyreducing both the initial and final resistances. This change, however,would decrease the rate of increase of resistance, with the swing of thehanger, which, combined with the lower initial re sistance, would makethe truck unsteady when at or near the central position.

The improved swing hanger of my invention attains the operativeadvantage of obtaining a rapid rate of increase of resistance, duringthe initial stage of bolster dis placement, while decreasing the rateduring the final stage, so that the maximum resist,- ance is notsufficiently high to endanger the stability of the truck.

The leading and characteristic feature of my invention is a swing hangerlink, com-- prising a plurality of coacting members, which are sorelated and connected as to be endowed with the capacity of bothrelatively independent and coincident movement, and my invention is not,therefore, limited to its application in the specific constructionherein set forth, in which two members only are combined to form myin'iprovcd link. .A. greater number of members, similarly re lated andconnected, may be provided, without departure from the spirit andoperative principle of my invention.

I claim as my invention and desire to cure by Letters Patent:

1. A swing hanger link for lateral motion railroad trucks, comprising aplurality till of connected members, the first thereof being providedwith bearings for permitting its movement on a support, and the othersbeing journalled, successively, on the first and one on another, wherebyeach has the capacity of movement, both independently of the first andcoincidently therewith.

2. A swing hanger link for lateral motion railroad trucks, comprising anupper member, provided with bearings for permitting its movement on asupport; and a lower member, journalled on the upper member, with thecapacity of both relatively inclependent and coincident movement.

3. A swing hanger link for lateral motion railroad trucks, comprising anupper mem ber, provided with two parallel bearings; through either orboth of which it is adapted to rest on a support; and a lower member,journalled, by two bearings, on the upper member, and movable bothindependently thereof and coincidently therewith.

4:. A swing hanger link for lateral motion railroad trucks, comprisingan upper member, provided with two parallel bearings, through either orboth of which it is adapted to rest on a support; two parallel ournalpins, projecting laterally from said upper member; a lower member,having bearings adapted to rest on said journal pins and to turn oneither of them; and a coupling pin,

fixed on the lower member, adjacent to its free end.

5. In a railroad truck, the combination of a main frame; a bolster,adapted to traverse laterally relatively thereto; a swing frame, fixedto the main frame; and a plurality of swing hanger links, eachcomprising an upper member, suspended on the swing frame, and a lowermember, suspended on the upper member and articulated to the bolster.

6. In a railroad truck, the combination of a main frame; a bolster,adapted to traverse laterally, relatively thereto; a swing frame, fixedto the main frame; a plurality of pairs of "parallel journal pins, fixedin the swing frame; a plurality of swing link upper members, suspendedon said journal pins, and adapted to swing on either pin of a pair;pairs of parallel journal pins, fixed in said upper members; and aplurality of swing link lower members, each suspended on the journalpins fixed in one of the upper members, with the capacity of swinging oneither pin of the pair, and articulated to the bolster.

ROBERT F. HALL.

Witnesses:

BERTHA O. FABOSKAY, C. K. GETCHELL.

